The Boston Marathon will run this year on Patriots Day, April 18th, 2022! Thousands of Marathon Daffodils will be distributed over the Patriots Day weekend to fill the City of Boston, to welcome runners, residents, visitors and workers for a celebration of Spring, and to the hospitals to thank frontline healthcare workers.
The blooms may be found at many public spaces including Audubon Circle, Kenmore Square, Back Bay, The Nike Store, The Newbury Hotel, Marathon Sports, and at the Boston Athletic Association Marathon Finish line area and at the Marathon Memorial sites. Along the Esplanade and Emerald Necklace, at the “Make Way for Ducklings” statues, Charles Street, Post Office Square, along the Seaport where the display of 20 Knots: Daffodil for Boston art installation by WS Development; at the Christopher Columbus Park, Sam Adams Boston Tap Room at its Faneuil Hall Pub and in historic Charlestown, all will be in bloom.
Suffolk Downs is hosting Marathon Dash at The Track on April 16th from 9:00AM to noon.
There will be three 50-yard dash races for grades K-2, grades 3-5, and grades 6-8 followed by two mile runs for grades K-8
Charlestown resident Diane Valle founded the Marathon Daffodils, now in its ninth year, to honor the spirit of the Boston Marathon by delivering thousands of daffodils throughout Boston. The Marathon Daffodils collaborates Charlestown resident volunteers and sponsor, with hundreds of other generous donors and volunteers who donate their money, time and energy to add a cheerful display of yellow daffodils to welcome runners, visitors, and residents.
“Come take a walk around the city to see the beautiful, cheerful, yellow Marathon Daffodils; enjoy our great neighborhood in Charlestown, our City of Boston and celebrate this Spring tradition. “ adds Valle.
“Marathon Daffodils is a way to remember those who lost their lives; to acknowledge those who suffered injuries and those who rushed to their aid as well as to signify the resilience and strength of our entire Boston Strong community,” says Matthew J. Piscitelli, co-owner of Olson Greenhouse that grows the Marathon Daffodils.
“The Marathon Daffodils is our way of offering a living symbol of Hope, Spring, and Rebirth.” says Clive Olson, Jr, Vice-President of The Marathon Daffodils. “It is especially important after a experiencing two challenging years of COVID.”
In October of 2021, more than 25,000 Dutch Master daffodil bulbs were imported from Holland, planted in 5,000 pots, and put into a massive cooler at Olson Greenhouse, Raynham, MA. Three weeks before Marathon Weekend, the bulbs are removed from the cooler, ending their winter-long hibernation, beginning their life as a Boston Strong Marathon Daffodil.
On Friday morning, April 15th, 2022, volunteers’ trucks will be loaded with daffodils while teams of volunteers gather at a dozen locations throughout the City of Boston, to receive and deliver the Marathon Daffodils to greenspaces and locations.
Marathon Daffodils is supported by the generosity of numerous donors, neighbors, friends, members of Garden Club Federation, members of Garden Clubs, Massachusetts Master Gardeners, businesses and individuals.
Donate to Marathon Daffodils https://www.marathondaffodils.org/donate/
Bonus!!!! Watch the award -winning documentary trailer “The Path of the Daff”
About Path of the Daff.
Directed Boston native Michael Piscitelli https://www.instagram.com/pathofthedaff/?hl=en The city faced with unimaginable tragedy rallies around a most unlikely hero. A timeless story about healing and finding purpose in life. There is no road map for living through a traumatic event. It’s different for everyone who experiences it, and at some point, it’s something we all go through. Feeling lost, hopeless, and depressed comes with the territory, as if no other person in the world could understand your pain. This is a story of a community finding meaning when their lives are forever altered. In the wake of the 2013 bombings, Boston blooms again on Patriot’s Day with its newest tradition – the Boston Marathon Daffodils. One man with a camera and an editing system follows one daffodil bulbs adventure from the soil in the Netherlands, across the Atlantic, into a MA greenhouse, and onto the finish line of the Boston Marathon. A Zen story of purpose, healing, community, and love, as told by the people who experience it. Everything has a journey.